


The Man Who Rides In Boats

by PocketBahamut



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8357965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PocketBahamut/pseuds/PocketBahamut
Summary: It's the first time Chara travels with the Riverperson. Are they really what they seem, though? Or is it just someone else in disguise, hiding from the bitter truth?(Underswap, drabble)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Undertale fanfic, as it is my first English published fanfic. I will gladly accept your corrections, just don't be too rough, ok?  
> Also, I usually don't use this as self-defence, but English isn't my native language, so excuse me for the mistakes.  
> Now for the fanfic itself:  
> I've noticed that when it comes to Underswap, people usually ignore the Gaster/Riverperson swap. Underswap is a huge, unexplored AU, but everyone kinda seems to focus on Sans and Papyrus when there's other things to consider. So I tried to be one of those people who actually consider the swap.  
> It might be a bit too short, but I'm that person who can't make it too long.  
> I hope you enjoy.

The Man Who Rides In Boats  
* Seeing such a strange laboratory in a place like this... You’re filled with determination.  
As Chara saved, they decided to visit Alphys’ house in Waterfall since Sans called them about it. The quickest way was through the Riverperson’s services.  
Of course, Chara had never used the Riverperson’s services, but they heard about them from someone and decided to try them out.  
“Alright,” – Chara thought, - “A ride in a boat can’t be that harmful, right?”  
They walked down the stairs and met the Riverperson for the first time. He, she or whatever it was didn’t seem to notice Chara until they called them. The brown hood covered their face, so it was unclear what they were.  
“La-la-la. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman… ? Doesn’t really matter. I like to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?” – Chara nodded.  
“Where will we go today?” – Waterfall.  
“Then we’re off.”  
Moments later, Chara was sitting in the boat. They didn’t quite understand why the Riverperson was so calm about them, so they just sat there in silence.  
“La-la-la”, - the hooded figure remarked, - “Beware the man who rides in boats.”  
Whatever could that mean? No, Chara couldn’t simply let it go. They stood up and walked towards the Riverperson slowly.  
A minute of silence followed. And then the Riverperson spoke again, but in a different voice…  
“HUMAN,” – they (or rather he) said. – “I CAN TRUST YOU, CAN I NOT?”  
Not knowing what to say, the human nodded again. The hooded figure laughed deeply. And something very strange happened.  
The boat stopped. The Riverperson pulled one of his sleeves up to reveal a white hand… Chara noticed it had a hole, almost as if it was natural… The Riverperson reached for the hood covering his face and removed it. Chara shrieked in surprise.  
Underneath the brown hood was a pale, white face, almost skeletal-like. His eyes were black with white irises, like Sans’ and Papyrus’. The human couldn’t help but notice the long lines, or rather cracks around his eyes, the right one went up, the left one went down. He had a wide and creepy smile.  
In other words, this was quite terrifying. The Riverperson… No, whoever it was seemed to expect the human’s reaction.  
“HA… THAT’S HOW EVERYONE REACTED TO ME BACK THEN. HEH… THE NAME IS W. D. GASTER, THE QUEEN’S ROYAL SCIENTIST.” – Gaster sighed. – “OR AT LEAST I USED TO BE ONE.”  
“He doesn’t seem like he wants to kill me…” – Chara thought and decided to listen to what Dr. Gaster had to say.  
“HUMANS DON’T COME AROUND HERE OFTEN,” – he remarked. – “IN FACT, I’D SAY YOU WERE THE FIRST ONE TO COME THROUGH HERE. WOULD YOU CARE TO LISTEN TO MY STORY?”  
Chara nodded again. Now they had no reason to fear the Riverperson.  
“THANK YOU… NOW, LET THE STORY BEGIN.  
I doubt most monsters in the Underground remember me. As I stated before, I was a Royal Scientist before Undyne… Was that her name? Anyway, one of my best friends was a Riverperson, like I am now. It was him who gave me the idea to create the CORE, a machine that supports the entirety of the Underground with electricity. The CORE was, in fact, the reason I became famous and gained more friends, or followers, as they called themselves. Sans and Papyrus, the two skeletons you’ve probably met by now, were my next creations, but many said they weren’t as great as the CORE.  
One day, my friend and I were inspecting the CORE as usual to see whether anything was broken or not… We decided to check the lasers, but one of the switches was too high for him to reach… And… And…”  
Gaster took a deep breath before continuing:  
“And he fell. Straight into the CORE. And I couldn’t take responsibility. Many have asked me if the creation was safe, and many monsters have moved in to live there, so admitting that someone else fell into the CORE and didn’t come back would be like admitting you’ve been lying this whole time.  
So I decided to become the Riverperson, and to act as if nothing happened. When people asked me if I knew where Gaster was, I went “La-la-la, his greatest creation was his downfall.” And people didn’t quite understand what it meant, they probably thought that Dr. W. D. Gaster was simply doing some kind of research in the CORE and was unlikely to come out anytime soon.  
Time passed. People forgot. And I managed to play the role of the Riverperson successfully for so long, attempting to forget about my past life…  
I don’t know what Sans and Papyrus thought about it… Whenever I think about them, it feels heartbreaking.  
AND THERE WE GO. THIS IS MY STORY.” – Gaster looked even sadder despite the smile. At this point Chara didn’t know how to feel about him. All they could do was the obvious.  
* You tell Gaster that Sans and Papyrus are both ok.  
“THEY ARE?” – Gaster smiled, and this time, it wasn’t creepy.  
“Of course,” – Chara thought and smiled back.  
“OH YEAH, RIGHT. PROMISE ME ONE LAST THING. PROMISE ME THAT YOU’LL NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT WHO I AM.” – Gaster said firmly. He looked at Chara’s confused expression and added:  
“LET THEM BELIEVE THAT THE OLD ROYAL SCIENTIST IS GONE. LET UNDYNE LIVE HER LIFE.”  
After a moment of hesitation, Chara nodded with a hint of sadness. Dr. Gaster smiled and nodded back.  
“I KNEW I COULD TRUST YOU, HUMAN. NOW, LET’S GET YOU TO WATERFALL, SHALL WE?”  
Thus, they arrived at the destination point.  
“SEE YOU.”  
Even if Chara didn’t understand what it meant because it was written in strange symbols, they waved back and hurried over to Alphys’ house, where Sans was waiting.  
***  
Since then, Chara had done many things, but they couldn’t forget about the Riverperson. They rode in his boat multiple times, but all he did was remark on the current situation. After the remark about “Humans, Monsters, Cats and Dogs”, they stopped trying. The human met the Gaster Followers, but they didn’t have much to say about Gaster other than what Chara heard from Gaster himself. They did theorize about what happened to the Riverperson, however. Some said he simply died, others thought they shattered across time and space, and are now watching their every move… Whatever it was, the Human had no choice but to accept the bitter truth that someone will never be truly happy again.  
They can’t save everyone, can they?


End file.
